Is this profile-trotting gait in the ring
what is needed for coursing speed in the
field?
After living in both worlds, (show and field)
for the past 43 years, and at times breeding
exclusively for either world, I have found
with my sighthounds and countless other
cases, the more you breed for TRAD, (Tremendous Reach And Drive) in the ring, the
slower the dogs are in the field. A racing
Whippet or Greyhound has no TRAD, but
they run fast. Some show dogs with tons of
TRAD have a great elasticity in their joints
to perform a hesitated gait while their
limbs extend fore and aft, and while this
may look flashy to that show judge with
the eye, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work in the field. Yes,
how the dog trots is an indicator of how
the dog runs. Sighthounds run with the
double suspension gallop, (DSG) and twice
in a full galloping stride, they are airborne
in one complete stride. The hound is first
airborne in the collected position and again
airborne in the extended position. The first
airborne position is the collected phase of
the DSG as in the yellow Greyhound pictured. The second phase is the extended
position of the blue dog.
Sighthounds have 4 jump joints, 2 in
the pasterns of the front limbs and 2 in the
hocks of the hind limbs. To simplify this explanation it takes power to run fast, and believe it or not, the pastern on the front limb
of a sighthound lays down flat on the running surface, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like loading a spring for
that pastern to propel the dog forward and
it provides airtime in the collected phase of
the DSG. Most other breeds of dogs cannot double suspend in this collected phase
of the DSG. Too much elasticity in the jump
joint saps the power of the spring, and a
consequence is less speed. The power in the
hocks propels the dog into the extended
position of the DSG. In both the extended
position and the collected position, all 4 feet
are off the ground, and the sighthounds are
the only dogs that can consistently run with
the DSG. Hares and cheetahs also use the
DSG.

The yellow blanketed Greyhound is in the collected phase of the double suspension gallop. (DSG) The Blue Greyhound is in the extended phase of the DSG.
The hare is just starting into the extended phase of the DSG. NOFCA records
show that 90 % of hares escape the hounds. The hares live in their own habitat
and are never planted or moved and can run at speeds up to 40 mph. This hare
escaped into the greasewood brush in the background. Photo by Herb Wells.

The first limb of this
Saluki touches down
after the extended
phase of the DSG. Note
the pastern is down flat
and is loading the first
of 2 springs in the front
that will catapult the
dog into the collected
phase of the double
suspension gallop.
Photo by Herb Wells.

This Greyhound
Pup appears to
be jet propelled
as his rear jump
joints, known as
his hocks, launch
him into the extended position
of the DSG.

TRAD with the profile gait in the ring is not
power, but is overstepping, where the hind
leg sets down up to 12 inches farther forward
than the vacating front limb has left the surface
of the ground. I find still pictures of a dog in
trotting action amusing as the front and back
limb seem rather close to each other as the
dog is airborne, but if you moved the dogs on
wet beach sand with TRAD, you can measure
prints of the hind paw overstepping the front
paw and they are not close at all. While the dog
pictured in profile action is airborne it shows
nothing about where the front paw left the surContinued on page 112